It is one of the largest known paintings by the artist and his most ambitious composition.

It was rediscovered in 1945 in the parish church of Bois-Anzeray and acquired by the Société des amis du Louvre for the Louvre in 1979 as inventory number R.F.

The Berlin work is now considered to be a studio copy – Jacques Thuillier has attributed it to Georges' son Étienne de La Tour with retouching by Georges.

[2][3] It is thought the painter sent the first version to Charles IV of Lorraine (1604–1675) in 1633, before painting a second version for Louis XIII of France, who liked it so much that he hung it alone in a room.

There are copies in Ruan, the chapel in Bois-Anzeray and the church in Broglie.